Wildlifeof India
Yellow Monitor
Monitor Lizards
Photo: (c) Soumya Patra, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC-BY-SA (May be cropped or resized)
Varanus flavescens
Basic stats
Habitat
Flood plains of the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers
Range
India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh
Size
45–95cm including the tail
Weight
Up to 1.45kg
The yellow monitor, or golden monitor, is a medium-sized monitor lizard native to South Asia, measuring 45 to 95 cm including the tail and weighing up to 1.45 kg. The snout is short and convex and the nostril is an oblique slit. Young are dark brown above with yellow spots that join into crossbars, and yellow below with dark brown crossbars (Wikipedia, general species account).
It occurs in the flood plains of the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. The Reptile Database lists Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha. It is active by day and regulates its body temperature by moving between sunny and shady areas.
Quick answers
- What habitat does the Yellow Monitor live in?
- Flood plains of the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers
- Where is the Yellow Monitor found?
- India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh
- How big is the Yellow Monitor?
- 45–95cm including the tail
- How much does the Yellow Monitor weigh?
- Up to 1.45kg